Trying to gauge if I’m going crazy or a little too much “online.”
I currently live in Texas, and moving has been on my mind a lot lately as the Republican party and Texas itself seems to be slowly moving toward fascism. I don’t know when the slide toward fascism will stop, and how much more authoritarian the state will get. I do not feel very good about my tax dollars going to support this state.
I am a middle-aged cishet white man; middle to upper middle class software engineer. I have leftist opinions (libsoc/ansoc), but I’m not an activist (I am very introverted, probably a little bit on the autism spectrum, and pretty much a hermit right now). I do seldom indulge in marijuana consumption, which is illegal here.
I really don’t have much tying me down here. I have no close friends, no family in the state, and no current romantic partners. Last year, I moved within the state for a job, but the company was bought out, and everyone was layed off. I have very high autonomy at my current job, and could probably work fully remote if I wanted. Moving would be expensive (I am in an upside-down mortgage), but I have enough savings to take the hit.
I am personally feeling very isolated here (Texas suburb), at this point in my life, and am thinking about moving into some sort of intentional community (eco-village, cohousing, or land trust; not a commune) in a blue state (or even in Canada if I could pull that off).
Also, the weather in the last 2 years has been absolutely oppressive, and I have a hard time keeping anything alive in my veggie garden :)
Am I being over dramatic? Should I just stick it out here, and try to rebuild my life in a state that doesn’t align with my beliefs?
Also, I’ve heard arguments that libs should stay or even move to red states, but I’m not convinced. The state rules with an iron fist, and pre-empts anything progressive Texas cities try to do. And the district I live in is already pretty solidly blue. Not to mention, red states put families that contain females or lbgt people in danger.
yes, it’s the definition of privilege since most don’t have that privilege and i’ve recently become a member to that privileged class (for now atleast); which is how i can recognize it.
i also do software and i was in austin and left a couple of weeks ago because i’m not cishet nor white but still experienced enough bigotry (especially from gay texans) that it was impacting my psyche, so i had to leave and i feel sorry for whomever is like me but is stuck there because of something as silly as not having the opportunity to do software.
Don’t let politics rule your life’, friend. I have far right wing opinions and live in what I consider to be a redistributionist socialist utopia, totally hostile to personal economic development. But more likely, like you alluded to, we both probably just spend too much time online getting politically polarized. Nowhere is perfect, and geographical political isolation is bad for the country. I advocate for localization, building the world you want where you are, and socializing even more online. My online friendships are more persistent and convenient, and sometimes deeper and more human than real life.
I can’t wrap my head around someone being purposely “far right wing”. Like, you’re proud of fucking things up for everyone?
I am a very low impact person. I doubt I’ve ever fucked anything important up because of right wing beliefs.
I’m afraid to ask and be totally disappointed, but where do you live that is a supposed socialist utopia? Cause I don’t know if any that exist in this world so I’m afraid I’m just going to be disappointed by exaggerated rhetoric. Especially since I’ve never known any socialist concept to be hostile to personal economic development. Especially since it kind of requires success on a personal level to even be possible. But I’m hopeful you might know of some utopia I’m unaware of.
It’s a great place to live, even though I’m unemployed. My perspective is limited due to personal circumstance though. I’m just saying you can be happy and fulfilled even if you live in a society that doesnt perfectly match your values.
You’re still ignoring the question which I’m assuming implies you don’t think your stance would hold up to scrutiny. I’m not asking for your street address. I’m fine with just the country. Either you don’t think your beliefs hold up to scrutiny or you’re simply trolling.
Edit: and are you suggesting you believe you should be on the street instead of supported by the socialist programs? Seriously, I feel like you have to be trolling because nothing makes sense. Name the country and put your beliefs where your mouth is or admit to trolling.
Unemployed, so how do you pay your rent, eat, etc?. Oh you’re in a socialist country, so others people are paying for you? But you’re far-right? It does not make sense…
I never understood why anyone would want to live in Texas. Just seems like a bunch of insecure rednecks who is afraid of anything that isn’t a straight white family . I know not everyone one there is but it does seem like the people in power feel that way
As someone has mentioned before, it’s more of a rural/urban divide. Rural northern states are also full of rednecks. In my experience, rural Texan bigots are a lot more overt though. Stopped at a gas station in rural Texas once with my girlfriend (now ex), and the old women at the register refused to ring us up (because my girlfriend was black).
Red state doesn’t necessarily matter, find a purple state or a purple district where you and a few like minded people can potentially flip a district. I moved to a perpetually 51/49 district, I did get involved a bit in local politics to help spread the word (mostly stopped during COVID). Within a few years, we flipped the district blue for the first time in like 15-20 years.
Gotta go with what works for you. But as a fellow cishet middle-aged white engineer, you could not pay me enough money for me to want to move to Texas. Or Florida. Or most of the middle of the country. If I were in your shoes, I’d be out as soon as I had the means to leave.
Isn’t the weather alone enough of an argument against TX or FL? What will it be like there in 10 or 20 years?
I mean, I’m a fuckin’ weirdo who loves both heat and humidity. So I’m not really the target audience for that particular argument. But I get that I’m a weirdo, and most people don’t like living in the desert or a swamp. Personally, I’m much more turned off by their politics than I am their weather.
